Spring May Be Finally Springing - Pine Junction, Sherman, NY

Halle and Jill After 1st Place Volleyball Finish

6:00

6:24

Kayaking Towards Long Point

Preening Mallard

Sandpiper?

 A bright sunny morning, so bright that it's difficult to take an interesting photograph.  It's still surprisingly chilly out, 31º, although it will warm up to the 50's later in the day.  The lake is like glass, reflecting the shorelines, making me want to rise up off my couch and go kayaking.  It's 7:00, Evie's still sleeping, and I am going to kayak.  It's too beautiful on the lake to sit here listening to Morning Joe.  It' 8:15 and I am back.  Evie's still sleeping in, lucky gal.  I had a glorious morning paddle, across to Long Point, the sun blinding making if difficult to make my way.  Then across to Sandy Bottom and home, just missing the morning great blue heron, alas.  I am a fortunate guy to be able to enjoy a morning paddle.

Up, Up, And Away

Buffleheads

Common Merganser

Identity?

Sunday was another day of leisure, as it should be I guess.  It was still cold out and the morning was overcast, with a bit of drizzle, even a few minutes of snow over at Bemus Point.  So instead of our usual walk around the Chautauqua Institution, we stayed in waiting for the week to begin, with the forecast of warm weather.

Victoria/Woodlawn

 Yesterday, I had four things to look forward to, a big breakfast around 12:30 and Evie certainly cooperated by getting the bacon out to thaw early, finding leftover potatoes in the refrigerator, and frying up some eggs along with the bacon and potatoes for a great breakfast, and we watched CBS Sunday Morning.

Secondly, I wanted to watch game seven of the Cavs and Pacers series.  I saved it so that I could take a nap, then watch the game, fast-forwarding through the commercials.  So around 2:30, I did just that.  And despite the fact that I agreed with the pundits, that the Pacers were the better team, they did not have Lebron so the Cavs survived for another day.

Loving Pine Junction

Thirdly, we both were looking forward to going out to dinner with our friends, Linda and Ron.  Around 5:30, we drove fifteen miles, through green, sun-kissed farmlands to Pine Junction, set in the middle of nowhere.  It's one of our favorite places to eat and we were lucky to find a place at the bar for the four of us.  It was not particularly crowded which was nice.  So we felt right at home, having two appetizers, onion rings and fried pickles, with our beers, then burgers, salads, or flatbread pizzas, all quite good. We lingered at the bar after eating, in no hurry to get home.  We left in daylight, so our ride home was pleasant, as the sun hid behind the farmlands around 8:20.  And as we were driving home, we were surprised to see a huge, white full moon, hanging just above the horizon in the eastern sky.

Fourthly, once we were home, we looked forward to the final episode of Homeland, wondering once again how the series would end, would Carrie survive for another year.?  It was perhaps the best episode of the year, lots of tension and fairly realistic except for the ending where the President resigns, hoping this resignation will end the division in Congress.  I assume this is wishful thinking on the writers' part.

A New Think:

"It was no accident that the Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year in 2016 was “post-truth,” a condition where facts are less influential in shaping opinion than emotion and personal belief. To adopt post-truth thinking is to depart from Enlightenment ideas, dominant in the West since the 17th century, that value experience and expertise, the centrality of fact, humility in the face of complexity, the need for study and a respect for ideas."  Michael Hayden, Former Director of the CIA and NSA. 

A Cold And Cloudy Morning, A Sunny Spring Afternoon

The Willows At The Viking Club

 It was overcast and cold when I first walked outside to take a photograph at 6:20 and it's still cold and gray at 8:00, as I listen to NPR.  Fortunately, the afternoon will be sunny and the next few days will warm up, even into the 70's, inshallah.

7:04

Yesterday was cloudy and cool but early, the lake was smooth, the wind calm, so I was able to get in a paddle before the lake became choppy.  I was back by 9:30 and Evie was already busy in the kitchen.  We had talked about putting together a pot of chili so Evie was already browning the ground chuck, adding the beans, corn, and spices.  And because we had a half of cauliflower left, she decided to make another one of our favorite soups, an Indian spiced cauliflower/potato soup.  While she was cooking, I organized the trash, filled up the Outback, and took it (and our neighbors) to the Transfer Station and that was it for the day.

Neither one of us had the interest, the mojo to get outside, so after a lunch of toasted cheese (with jam) and the cauliflower soup, we both had another easy afternoon.  We both watched some TV on and off, me the NBA, Evie HGTV.  Around 4:00, Chris, who helps us with our boat and dock, called and wanted to know if he could put in the poles for our boat. So he came over and I supervised as he pounded the steel poles into the lake, readying them for the launch of my boat in a week or two.

Since dinner was already made, we decided on an extended wine time.  To celebrate our dock being complete,  Evie made a special appetizer,  a nice dish of guacamole with chips.  We shared a bottle of sauvignon blanc and ate chips and guacamole for a good hour and a half, listening to Apple Music.  Around 7:00, Evie heated the chili, put a couple of sourdough rolls in the oven and by 7:30, we were enjoying our dinner.  The chili was so good that I had second, contemplated thirds.  We watched Real Time with Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert.

A Great Blue Heron Morning

A quiet, windless Saturday morning on the lake, the view like a still life, occasionally marred by a duck floating by.  I should rush out and kayak before the wind picks up but I am too happy sitting here with my coffee, listening to C-SPAN callers, a scary look at real Americans.  Today they are discussing the differences between rural and urban America, more cultural than economic, as the rural life seems to be disappearing as the wealthy are buying up the land for vacation homes.   It's 8:45 and I just returned from kayaking, a calm, gray lake, pleasant even though I returned in the rain.

6:42

11:00

I decided to bag yoga on Friday, enjoy a leisurely morning, not like I don't have many.  Every morning seems leisurely.  Around 9:30, our boat guy, Chris, called to say he had my boat in his garage and I could drop off the reupholstered boat seats any time.  So that was my morning task, to drive 5.5 miles to his garage and drop off the boat seats.  The Outback could only hold half of the seats so I had to make two trips, not a big deal as I had nothing else to do.

Another Kayak Morning

I didn't get home until noon and was hungry, so I heated the other half of the Cuban for my lunch, filling and satisfying although I think I have had enough Cubans for a while.  Around 12:30, Evie left to go shopping and visit the chiropractor for the first time.  She was gone till 4:00, liked the chiropractor but is not sure how much it helped.  And she brought back a few things from T.J. Maxx, no doubt to be returned next week.  As for me, my routine did not change.  Watch some Jack Taylor, read, and take a nap, this time a nice long one.  I also watched some of the NBA playoffs until Evie got home.

Downy Woodpecker

We putzed around until 5:00, debating what to do about dinner, whether to make something or go out to eat.  Going out to eat won out so we left around 5:45 for the Rod And Gun, hoping that the wait list was not too long, that there were seats empty at the bar.  Well, there were just two seats empty at the bar when we got there and the wait list was forty-five minutes perfect for us to enjoy a beer or two at the bar, gamble some, then go in and have dinner.  We both had the fish fry, ten dollars with coleslaw and potato and it was one of the best we have had at the lake.  We were both turned off by our fish fry at another restaurant a couple of weeks ago but this one was really good.  We stopped to pick up some kidney beans because we wanted to make chili today and were home by 8:30, in time to watch the final episode of Doctor Foster, Season One, where everything works out for the best.  Then, the first episode of Season Two, where everything falls apart: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," seems to be a good synopsis of this series.

Still Coolish With Some Clouds

Kayak Morning

6:34

7:20

It's 7:15 and I have been up for an hour.  The lake's calm and smooth, as an occasional duck floats by.  Reflections of the shoreline trees shimmer on the lake's surface.  It's 36º out but should warm up some to the high 50's.  Around 7:45, I was able to get in a decent morning paddle, down to Sandy Bottom and back, as the sun came out, warming a cool morning. 

A Handsome Male Wood Duck

A Female Wood Duck

Yesterday was mostly sunny, a nice change from the gray and drizzle of the previous days.  I did go to Yin Yoga, a crowded class as usual but I found my favorite spot in the corner.  Even in yoga I am a creature of habit, hoping for the same spot each class.  That is, unless I think of it being habitual so I deliberately find another spot, asserting my freedom to choose.  This does not sound very yoga like, too conscious, with little mindfulness.  Anyways, it was a good class, lots of two or three minute asanas. 

Purple Martins Have Arrived,  At Our Neighbors

Afterward, I drove to Celoron, checking out the building of the new hotel on the waterfront, like a huge dinosaur sitting in a village.  I then stopped at Spectrum vison to get my glasses cleaned and refit since they kept sliding down my nose, often falling off.  It's one of the few things in life that are free. 

Lunch was great, the leftover Cuban from the Viking Club and I started a new series, set around the Jack Taylor novels by Ken Bruen.  I read three or four of them but got a bit tired of Jack's drinking and cocaine habit.  He was thrown out of The Guard for that reason.  I think I am going to like them, a good lunchtime series.

After my nap, some reading and went outside because I had a project.  And any project for me is a major job.  This time it was fairly simple, nail carpeting on the steps of our lake ladder.  Evie cut the carpet to size and I nailed it on the ladder steps with no major screw ups and I only dumped the nails once!  It took me about 15 minutes and I was happy with the result.  Now we are ready to swim.

Around 4:30, I went down the street to see how the renovation was coming to our neighbor's cottage.  I arrived just at the right time, as they were jacking up the house for the first phase.  They had six air jacks under four steel beams.  They made sure all was level, turned on the air pressure machine and the house rose off its foundation in one piece for the first time ever.  It rises only 14 inches at a time before they have to fill in space with logs, reset the jacks, and raise it again 14 inches.  What a process and one that has to be done correctly, with care. 

I got home in time for wine and once again, Evie was off the hook for dinner because we were having leftover enchiladas (the last of them :) )for dinner.  While they heated up, she made a salad and by 7:00, we had dinner in daylight, something we strongly dislike.  For us, dinner and TV time should always be when it gets dark which is impossible as summer approaches unless, like the French or Spanish, we eat dinner late.  We watched, what else, some Colbert, Vice News, and another episode of Doctor Foster before tiring and going up to bed. 

Almost Friday

Kayaking In The Rain

Early Morning Casting

7:00

I was up at 6:00 (what's come to be a typical time for me lately), to more gray, a wrinkled lake, and a chilly 37º morning.  At least it's not raining and later, we should have six or seven hours of sunshine before the showers return tomorrow.

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was another Spring-like day, overcast with drizzle on and off much of day, a good day for yoga so off I went at 9:30.  Earlier, however, I was determined to get in a paddle, so I donned my rain jacket and went out on the lake around 8:00 for a half hour, looking for herons to photograph to no avail.  Fortunately, the rain stopped after about ten minutes of paddling and it was pleasant to be on the lake, surrounded by the gray and fog.  I noticed a few sparrows in the purple martin houses but no martins yet.

Buffleheads

Fox Peninsula In The Fog

A Loon

Yoga was at 10:00 and it was a hard class, perhaps because there were lots of veterans there.  I managed to keep up and almost worked up a sweat.  I was happy when we got to savasana, the ten minute period of relaxation at the end of class.  Afterward, I made a couple of stops, first at Walmart to return a bathroom rug and pick up another color rug.  Then at a hardware store to pick up some tacks to fix a carpet on our lake ladder.  And finally,  I dropped off a package at Don's Car Wash in Lakewood to return to Amazon. A busy boy.

Lunch was easy, the leftover noodle soup from Tuesday and a cheese, black bean and chicken enchilada from Tuesday night's dinner.  I watched some NBA playoffs, read and took a nap as it remained wet and gray outside.  Around 3:30, I decided the heck with the weather and drove over to Long Point for a walk in the park.  I walked out to the tip of Long Point because we had noticed that there was a yellow barrier on the west side of the peninsula.

Barrier Around Long Point

It's rubber wall, filled with some kind of styrofoam to keep it afloat, is set twenty feet off of shore.  It seems to be anchored to the shallow bottom and blocks any lake detrius from about 300 yards of shoreline.  I assume that's its purpose, to keep the area clear of floating debris.  Eventually, I assume, they will install large rocks along the shoreline, as they did last fall around the tip, to halt the erosion on the west side of Long Point.

Rock Pile For Erosion Control

When I  got home, it was time to get ready to go out for dinner at the Viking.  We got there around 6:15 and ran into our buddy, Ron, with a friend.   We were fortunate to find a seat at the bar as it was another crowded Wednesday, probably because they were serving the club's favorite, Cuban sandwiches.  We quickly put in our order because the kitchen seems to run out of sandwiches by 7:00.  It turned out to be a quiet night at the bar, as none of "the regulars" were there, so we just enjoyed a couple of beers and our sandwiches.  They were better than usual but neither us could finish so we will have enough for a couple of lunches or a dinner.  Both of us were tired, me from yoga, shopping, and walking, Evie from a bad sleeping night, so after we finished our sandwiches, we drove home, happy to get comfortable in our TV room by 7:45.  We watched the news, some Colbert and another episode of Doctor Foster before going up to bed early, ready for a good night's sleep.

More Of The Same: Fog And Drizzle

6:34

6:36

7:27

It's 6:55 and I have been up for an hour, watching the dark morning turn gray, a daguerreotype kind of morning. No color, just shades of gray but shrieks from the loons, honks from the geese and an occasional birdsong.  It's 50º and the weather may stay this way the rest of the day.

Yesterday was a day for April showers which, after a sunny and warm three days did not seem so bad.  I decided to go to yoga, a good idea, a good class and I left a 'mellow' guy, at peace with the world, 'empty and marvelous.'  I exaggerate.  I stopped for a coffee, said aloha to the regulars and went shopping, stopping at Home Depot to pick up a few things we needed, then Wegman's, to pick up a few staples.  And even though it was discount Tuesday, I found a check out line with only one person ahead of me.  A good day.

When I got home, Evie had already put together our dinner of chicken and black bean enchiladas and made my lunch, a chicken noodle soup, adding the leftover pasta noodles to a chicken stock.  That, along with a sesame bagel, was enough for my lunch.  I watched ten or fifteen minutes of a couple of NBA playoff games but soon got bored and wanted to get back to my book, Craig Johnson's AS THE CROW FLIES, my 8th Longmire novel.  Nothing like always having a good read to turn to when you are bored. And on a gray, wet, rainy afternoon, it's a fine soporific although I don't usually need it.

After my nap and more Longmire, I walked in the rain in our neighborhood, checking out the progress on the renovation of one of our neighbor's homes.  For now, it's anchored in water and mud, putting off its raising off the foundation.  Around 5:30, Evie put the enchiladas in the oven and we had our usual glass of wine, looking out at familiar gray skies and watching the finches rally around our new bird feeder in the front window.

Dinner Time

We were happy to finally sit down to dinner and watch some TV.  We were not sure what to watch, so we started with Colbert, some news, then a series from Great Britain called Doctor Foster, about a woman who discovers her husband is having an affair.  So far, so good.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: JACQUELINE WINSPEAR

This is the second of the Maggie Dobbs novels and I like it much more than the first.  In this novel, Maggie is asked to find the daughter of a supermarket magnate.  As she learns as much as she can about the daughter, Charlotte Waite, three of Charlotte's friends turn up dead, whether from murder, poisoning or suicide.  At first, Maggie continues the search for Charlotte but soon begins to see a connection between the deaths of the three friends and Charlotte.  It's set in 1930 and her chief investigator, Billy Beale, a WWI vet, ably helps her in the pursuit despite his addiction to painkillers.  Maggie, of course, realizes this is a problem and works out a plan for him to overcome this problem as she continues her quest for answers to the missing Charlotte Waite.

Drizzle On A Drab Morning

6:09

6:34

6:35

6:36

I was up at 5:45, to a crack of light over the eastern horizon.  We have had a light drizzle for the last half hour, the sky mostly gray with some color just before the sun rose.  I look out on a gray, wrinkled lake, a 50º morning with rain forecast for most of the day. 

Long Point This Morning

Yesterday was another glorious spring day, the kind we have been waiting for.  Unfortunately, we had to drive to Erie for another doctor's appointment for Evie but we were rewarded, afterward, with a quick run through Sam's Club, a bonus when going to Erie.  On a bizarre note, as we walked into the doctor's office, two women walked out with sweatshirts emblazoned with huge Confederate flags.  At first, we thought they were British flags but realized later that yesterday was Confederate Day.  An interesting world out there folks. 

A Pair Of Wood Ducks Yesterday Morning

We got home around noon on a sunny but windy afternoon.  I had lunch at Sam's, a Smith's hotdog and coke for a buck fifty so I was happy.  We both wanted to get some things done outside, the usual, raking, cleaning, and getting rid of the winter's detritus. So on and off most of the afternoon, we were either outside raking, cutting, and trimming, or inside either reading, watching some TV (the fourth quarter of Sunday night's Cavs game or in my case, napping.  By 5:00, we had enough, so I took another couple of pails of twigs, grasses, and leaves up the hill to the compost pile, the second time in two days.  Our yard, Evie's garden, looks taken care of finally, with some green starting to show.

We then relaxed with a couple of glasses of wine and cheese and crackers, happy with our day, our efforts, as the wind began to die, the ducks floated by, the sky began to lose its color.  Dinner was easy, rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club and roasted cauliflower and roasted potatoes.  We caught up on Homeland and Billions, and neither was very exciting, in fact, Billions is confusing.  We need a degree in accounting to figure out what's going on with Bobby.  I finished my book, RULES OF CIVILITY, a good read and started a new Longmire.